Cool People I Know - Chapter 21 - Matt Roth

Meet Matt. Say Hi Matt. Matt. Say Hi. Matt. Matt...

I met Matt through my dear friend Eva K.  She's all types of awesome, so naturally Matt is too.  Matt works in PR, grew up in Waterloo and wrestles alligators in his spare time.  

What you might not know about Matt is he's extremely funny.  Really funny actually. I can read any of his emails and they'll likely leave you in stitches.  I mean, I'll send him a straight up email asking how he is, and his response will usually result in some type of spitting out of drink, or something along those lines.

He's a good friend, you want him on your team, especially if you're into wrestling alligators or putting together shows, or if you need someone to cheer you up or take you out to Cherry Colas and watch people do crazy things. Then Matt's your guy.  Seriously wishing he would pursue his writing more but alas PR and gator wrestling ties up (pun intended) his time.  Just read this interview.. it's 10 types of hilarious and he's 20 types of awesome. Oh right, try the crudite platter.

Name: Matt Roth 
Sign: Dicaprio (aka Leo)
 Location: Standing Right Behind You
 Status: Mothers - Lock Up Your Daughters
Twitter: @mattroth416

What places have you lived in? 

I’ve lived all over the world. And by ‘all over the world’ I more specifically mean three cities in Southern Ontario. Born and raised in the bustling metropolis of Kitchener, I moved my act great distances (about five minutes door to door) to Waterloo at the tender age of 16, to further my education and the development of my general awesomeness. A few years later I moved to Toronto for college (first South Etobicoke, then Bloor West Village, then Forest Hill and now the Eg/Mt. Pleasant corridor) and stuck around for my career and, no matter how hard she tries sometimes, this city still hasn’t been able to shake me free. 

What is the one song that best describes you? Why? 

I’d probably say “What I Got” by Sublime. It’s a pretty relaxed song that deals with some serious stuff but also doesn’t act overly serious all the way throughout, which I think is a pretty solid description of me. I try to have a positive impact on the people that come and go in my life (and can accept the fact that sometimes, for various reasons, that just doesn’t happen) and I seem to be pretty good at keeping my head on straight in good times and bad, not letting problems (large or small) take a major toll on me which both seem to be key themes in the song. 

I also rise to the street rather early on occasion (normally in search of coffee), I rarely start static and I’ve never had to battle with a bulletproof vest (know how tough it is to try and buy one of those things!), so it’s pretty much a bang on description of me in a lot of ways. Granted there are several discrepancies, which I don’t mind pointing out. 

-        I don’t have a Dalmatian or any other type of dog (yet) 
-        I don’t get high (Cerveza, por favor) 
-        The opening few bars to ‘More Than a Feeling’ by Boston is really the only gee-tar that I can still play like a motherf#cking riot 
-        My styles are not straight from Long Beach. I lived in the Long Branch neighbourhood of Etobicoke for a little while, but I’m pretty sure that’s not the same thing 
-        I can’t imagine my mother smoking any kind of illegal narcotic. She can make a bottle of Chardonnay her bitch pretty easily, though 
-        I’ve never lived with a ‘Lou Dog’ but have done alright at maintaining my sanity even given this shocking fact 

Save for these rather insignificant differences though, I’d say ‘What I Got’ could pretty easily be renamed ‘Bradley Nowell’s Loving Ballad of Matt Roth’. 

If you could name the book of the biography of your life what would it be?

Since I’d have to write pretty much everything in the book, I’d probably just steal a title I like from a Matt Good b-side and call my biography ‘Life Beyond the Minimum Safe Distance’ as I think it kind of sums up my life to this point pretty well. I've always thought it’s important to push yourself and get out of your comfort zone i.e. your ‘Minimum Safe Distance’ every now and then to remind yourself (and sometimes teach yourself) of just what it is you’re capable of. I find the older I get the more measured the risks I'll push myself to take are, but there’d still be plenty of stories from days gone by of some stuff that in hindsight was pretty stupid, but that I was for the most part able to take something positive from (i.e. before jumping a fence, always look to see how far a drop it is on the other side or risk concussions and/or permanent facial scarring). 

Well, either that or I’d call it ‘Everything in This Book Really Happened’ and then just fill it with a bunch of stuff that never happened - just to be a jerk. Kind of like ‘A Million Little Pieces’ but with more jokes about pandas and other various cute and hilarious animals. 

If you could have a super power what would it be? Who would be your arch-nemesis you'd use it against? 

My super power would be having actual finger guns that shoot real bullets when I make the finger gun motion. I’d use it against my arch-nemesis, ‘Any Guy That Has Ever Done The Finger Gun Expecting To Pull It Off’. My first target would be their leader: http://bit.ly/e8Gskd 

If you could pick any rock and roll figure to be your dad who would it be? 

Without a doubt, David Gilmour. I think music today would be very different if Pink Floyd never existed, and though Roger Waters was the driver for what they did from a conceptual standpoint, I still feel that what Gilmour brought to the equation was the driving force behind why their music meant so much to generations of fans. Plus if he were my father he would probably disown me if I ever gave up playing the guitar, so by now I’d probably be able to really play the gee-tar like a motherf#cking riot. 

Who or what inspires you to do what you do? Be specific. 

1)        My folks. For being a pretty stubborn kid that wanted to do everything my own way, they did a fairly impressive job of instilling a lot of positive values in me (in many cases, without me even knowing it.) Now that I’m a little older and can recognize and appreciate that fact, I find a lot of my inspiration was born from them and their tireless efforts to save teenage me from my stupid self. 

2)        Genuinely funny people. I think that laughter is one of the most important things in life, and see the fact that everybody loves a good laugh as one of the few bonds that tie us all together. People that have an ingrained knack at bringing smiles to the faces of those around them have made the world a much better place, and have always inspired me to try and do the same. 

3)        Kurt Vonnegut. I can’t even describe how many ways and to what extent reading his collective work has done to open my mind to different perspectives and impacted the way I process things. Any time I need inspiration I grab one of his books and disappear for a while until I’m inspired enough to come back up for air. So it goes. 

What is one song you can never get enough of? (include youtube linkage) 

One song is for suckers Nicole, so I give you two. 

Ben Harper – The Woman in You (Live from Mars) 

Live versions of songs are always where it’s at for me. Harper’s ‘The Woman In You’ from Live From Mars has been hands down, far-and-away my favourite song ever since it first pierced my ears on New Year's Day 2001 while I was half passed out on a bus coming back from a crazy night in Montreal. His scream at about the seven minute mark of the songs is so primal it sends chills up my spine every time I hear it. They didn’t do any video at Live From Mars but this version from Vancouver a few years ago does it justice. - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzZobBwRKLg 

David Gilmour – Comfortably Numb (Live in Gdansk) 

Second, David Gilmour (that guy again) performing Comfortably Numb live at the Gdansk Shipyard with the Baltic Philharmonic Symphony Orchestra. This was the last night of the ‘On an Island’ tour and Richard Wright (the keyboardist from Pink Floyd) is doing vocals for the verses. This show would end up being Wright’s last live performance as he passed away shortly after the tour. IMO if the original closing solo for “Numb” from The Wall is one of greatest musical gifts ever given to man, this version from Gdansk is fit for something much better than us. 

Plus I’ve worked really hard to develop the most awesome surprise-in-your-face air guitar routine that I break out to accompany this version, which I’m pretty sure everyone loves. Well, everyone except for strangers on the subway. They don’t seem to like the routine much. But that probably has more to do with their lack of appreciation for the fine art of surprise-in-your-face air guitaring than it does the routine itself, right? Right.  -http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D1JoN5up0B0 
Dear Miss Late July, 

What’s the square root of a pineapple? 

Seriously, I need to know the answer to this fast otherwise I can’t get into my online banking account (why the hell would the bank let me write my own security question in the first place??) and I’ve got some bills and scary people I really need to pay quickly. 

Any help would be appreciated. 

Your fan, 
Matt 


Dear Matt, bills and scary people go hand in hand. Are you stripping again? 


Sincerely,
MLJ